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What Are Your Five-Minute Fixes for Rice?

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It’s not a recipe, exactly, but it’s a revelation, or it was when my roommate Judy showed it to me 40 years ago (scary, but true; it was 1970). There was something daring, creative, wonderful about it.

And yet it’s great stuff. I don’t make it enough, but when I do I’m always glad I of it, because it’s really one of the easiest fixes I know. It takes five minutes, and adds a lot to both plain rice and any meal.

Basically: you cook long-grain rice. You can cook it hours, even days, in advance. You can use leftover takeout rice, too.

When you’re nearly ready to eat, melt some butter in a skillet; yes, you can use olive oil instead. Don’t skimp: a tablespoon per cup is not too much. Over medium heat, add the rice and stir. Grind black pepper in there, a lot (not a tablespoon per cup, but a lot – it should be assaultive, unless you don’t like black pepper). When the rice is hot, check for salt, add a little more pepper, and then start squeezing lemon – again, a lot, a tablespoon per cup, or more. When you’re done, it should be peppery and lemony, and taste like butter too.

Years later, I realized that Judy’s lemon rice was what happened when you made plain rice at the same time as you made, for example, some roasted or broiled chicken with a lot of lemon and butter – and then poured the pan drippings over the rice. This is fresher, easier, and can be more frequent. Highly recommended.

14 Comments

I mix leftover rice with diced tomatoes, onions, green chillies, hot sauce, and black beans. A bit of cheese on top and it’s a one pot meal! It reheats really well too. (I also substitute quinoa for the rice sometimes to add extra protein.)

I burn some onions in more olive oil or butter than I think I need, then stir in cold rice. From there I generally go to black beans and prepared salsa with a squirt or two of fresh lime, but I’ve also gone to good, cold strained yogurt and a heavy dose of pepper.

Lately, I make Mexican rice with sauteed cumins and onions, refried black beans and diced tomatoes and finish off with a dash of lime. Often, I’ll eat the rice South Indian style with just yoghurt and a spicy pickle. When I was a child growing up in India, I loved rice with ghee and salt.

One of my quick snacks: About a cup of leftover rice, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoon or so of butter, reheated in the microwave and topped with an umeboshi plum. Not entirely authentic, as the Japanese wouldn’t add butter, but my Western palate requires the extra lubrication

I’m not breaking any new culinary ground here but this is my go to: Leave leftover rice uncovered in the fridge so it has a chance to really dry out. Get a wok ripping hot, and add oil, minced ginger and minced garlic. Just before the aromatics brown, throw in the rice and let it fry. Plate it and top with an over easy egg and some sliced scallion greens. From there, you can point the dish toward Korea, Vietnam, China, or eat it as is with a squirt of Sriracha.

I prefer Jasmine rice for it’s aromatic flavor to start with, but I add 1 tablespoon of butter while cooking according to the package instructions, then add the zest of one lemon – per cup of rice (I find better lemon flavor without the tartness), and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. So easy and really livens up the rice. Sometimes I add fresh Thai basil, finely chopped for a little more exotic flavor.

Sauteed onions – a full onion for one person sounds about right – with garlic, chickpeas, and maybe whatever greens you have on hand; season with soy sauce, cooking sake, and some broth, and let it simmer until most of the water’s gone and the whole thing is thickened. (You can help it along with a pinch of cornstarch, too.) Incidentally, this is also what I put on pasta… I go through a lot of soy sauce.

When wanting a “bite” of something sweet (usally on the fly, for one serving), I combine leftover jasmine rice with a bit of butter, lime juice and sugar, and pop into microwave just long enough to melt butter and sugar. Sometimes I add the lime juice separately, after rice mix is heated. “Someday” I think of trying this stovetop in a pan, letting the sugar caramelize a bit … but the microwave way is quick and banishes the sugar crave.

Another quick change up for rice is making it with coconut milk in lieu of broth or water. The light coconut flavor opens up all kinds of other options to play with sweet or savory flavors.